Erica's blogs

Sunday, December 15, 2013

It’s always special when your AHL goaltender gets their
chance in the NHL and that’s how it has been for Hershey Bears fans watching
Phillip Grubauer’s sprawling saves between the pipes for their NHL affiliate, the
Washington Capitals. But, it doesn’t just end there for the sweetest place on
earth, who was treated to receiving their ’09 & ’10 Calder Cup Champion
Goaltender, Michal Neuvirth, Friday on a conditioning loan from the Capitals.

“I thought [Neuvirth] got better as the game went on, I
really did.I thought he made some
really big saves in the 3rd,” said Head Coach Mike Haviland. “He needs to play,
he needs to play games. He even said to me right after, 'I got better as the
game went on,' and I said 'you did'.”

The fans don’t mind having Neuvirth in town for a while
either. With all of the movement throughout the Capitals organization this season,
the fans are visually seeing the affiliations between the teams, as a player is
on Hershey ice one night and on their TV screen the next. That might be due to Capitals Head Coach Adam
Oates’ team-first attitude, and the fans can definitely get behind that.

For some, seeing Grubauer between the pipes for the Capitals
is like seeing into the future of the organization. An organization with great
goaltending from top to bottom, which will develop great goaltending for seasons
to come. The fans are getting in on the
goaltender love as well, Dave Null said: "To have three goalies in the system that can step between the pipes on any given night will boost the confidence of the Caps and Bears players."

Last night, through the blizzard a few thousand faithful
Bears fans trekked to the Giant Center to watch their Hershey Bears suit up
against the Binghamton Senators for the 5th time in 3 weeks. It was
the faithful that trekked through the snow but this encouraging tweet from the
Broadcaster/Dir. Of Media Relations of the Hershey Bears could have helped put
the spring in their steps:

It was the kind of over the hills and through the woods
drive on white snowy roads to a hockey game that set the night up to be a
memorable one. The kind that had fans commiserating about their drive to the
Giant Center with jokes like: “The car hydroplaned three times. I had a whistle
with me though and every time the car slid, I blew it and yelled icing.” The
fans were in good spirits and the few thousand that attended could still make
that arena roar.

“It shows the loyalty and it shows the passion that our fans
have and they are the best fans in the American Hockey League. They showed it
tonight. It’s a great feeling to come out there even on a winter storm and you
get thousands of people that come,” said Haviland. “It’s a great feeling to
have fans like we do.”

The game could have gone either way last night.Half-way through the Sens and the Bears were
tied up but due to the offensive contributions from the Bears, they were able to
spring ahead and run away with the 3rd period. And, although the icy
conditions continued to worsen outside, announcements were made to fans but the
faithful Bears fans stayed till the end to cheer on their team to this sweet
victory.